"Sabrı öğütler zaman oysa odur durmayan. Ben beklerim de zaman beklemez ki beni."

"Time advices patience when it's the one that never stops. I will

wait for you but time won't wait for me."

-Pinhani- (Zaman Beklemez)
(Time Doesn't Wait)

"Hey, Regulus?"

Regulus turned around; flinching. He'd been extremely jumpy for the past couple of days. Specifically, ever since he'd heard about Granger. Each second he was expecting Granger to tap on his shoulder and question him. He was waiting in every corner, following him in the breaks, trying to catch his eye during meals. But Regulus wasn't a slytherin for nothing. He was good at getting away and avoiding. He was sneaky; it was his most obvious trait. Luckily, his intruder wasn't Granger.

He sighed loudly, trying look as careless as he could.

"What, Rookwood?"

"I-I was just wondering if you were—I mean, about, you know; any progress?" The older boy stuttered, still desperate to know about his task.

Regulus' face darkened. He'd never apologized to Rookwood about their unpleasant encounter and he wasn't planning to. Rookwood had been getting on his nerves too much lately.

"I thought," he began aggressively, "we had talked about that Rookwood. I'm sure you don't want any reminder of that conversation."

Rookwood cringed for a second but then put his chin up.

"That was a one time thing Regulus. Don't forget who is training who."

"Fuck off Rookwood." Regulus spat, but Rookwood had gained even more courage now. He didn't move.

"Does Hawk know?" He insisted. Regulus sighed and answered:

"No."

"Will you tell him"

"No."

"Regulus-"

Regulus got up spontaneously; Rookwood stopped talking.

"I'm bored; I don't want to listen to you anymore. Leave me alone Rookwood."

And with that, he got up and left the common room.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

That day, right after dinner, he heard footsteps behind him. He felt his heart in his throat. Please, not Granger, not Granger.

"Regulus."

He instantly turned to the familiar voice. It was Sirius.

"What is it?" He asked, tired. He was sick of living with the fear of an encounter with Granger.

"Did you," he paused and moved closer to Regulus, "find out anything?" He whispered after making sure there was no one listening.

Regulus felt a cramp in his stomach. Should he tell? He wanted to. Despite all that was going on, inside, he was still a small boy aching for he approval of his big brother. But his insticts beat the small boy:

"No."

He didn't tell. Why didn't he tell? He wanted to open his mouth and scream the words to his brother but he couldn't. It's not like Sirius would believe him anyway. He would mark him as a crazy snake. Besides, Regulus had reasons to keep this to himself for a while.

"Nothing?" Sirius insisted, "I saw you follow him out of the Great Hall the other day. Where did he go?"

"To Hagrid's Hut," Regulus answered truthfully, "it seems like they are friends."

"Friends? Did you hear what they talked about?"

Regulus' hands started to sweat but he tried keep his cool.

"Nothing really. They drank tea and talked about school. It was very boring actually."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. Regulus knew he wasn't convinced but then he nodded his head and turned around without a word. Regulus hadn't realized he was holding his breath until then.

HPHPHPHPPHPHPHPHPHP

He didn't know when it began. He'd tried to deny it, reject it but he couldn't. Especially after lying to Sirius today.

He was supposed to be proud. Proud of his mission; the Dark Lord had chosen him for this task. Him; not Rookwood, not even Hawk. He should have been proud. And he had been, at first. But it had started to scare him lately.

During his time as a student, Dark Lord had stolen Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem; now, for some reason, he wanted it placed back in the castle after all this time. He wanted it hidden well.

It had seemed easy. Very easy in fact. How hard could hiding an ancient tiara be? Nobody even believed it existed. But it wasn't. Regulus had been fascinated at first; an ancient diadem that belonged to one of the Hogwarts' founders. Long after everyone was asleep in the dorm, he had taken it into his hands. He had felt the history of the diadem he was holding; its magic beating in his hands.

Beating.

That night he had felt like he heard it, but he hadn't taken it into account. It was late at night, he was sleepy. Just an illusion, he had thought. A mistake made in the dark.

Later on he had kept searching for the perfect place. Each night he had placed it under his bed with tones of protection charms. Each night he had heard it.

Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.

Heartbeat .

It wasn't an illusion, it was real, and it was just beside him. It was a part of the Dark Lord. It had to be. Had he put his heart in it? His blood? His soul? Regulus didn't know but he knew that it freaked him out. It turned him colder and dangerous. He didn't like it.

Until a couple of days ago, he was determined to do what the Dark Lord ordered him. Not out of loyalty but out of pure fear. He wanted to get rid of it. But the other day, he'd found a new hope. Granger.

He was from the future. For some reason, this made Regulus feel like he could help him. Granger was already too nosy, too involved, in the future he had to be familiar with the Marauders somehow. Why else would he be so interested in them? Regulus had noticed him following them everywhere, like a tail or a cub. And if he knew the Marauders, then he must have heard of Regulus too.

Regulus still wanted to get rid of the diadem. But not by hiding it; he wanted to destroy it. And for that, he needed Granger's help.

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Deciding to get help was easy. Approaching was hard. Especially after so obviously running away from the boy for almost a week. But he had made his decision and he wasn't going to back out now. He wasn't a quitter.

He was in the Quidditch Field with the rest of the Marauders and some other Gryffindors. It seemed like he had a knack for flying; Regulus could tell he was really good just by watching for a few seconds. Sirius looked impressed. Potter was exhilarated.

"Why didn't you try out for the team?!" He was asking, "We would win every single game with you!"

"We already win every single game, James." Sirius called across the field; he wouldn't want Granger in the team of course.

"Still," Potter started, "he would be good use for us."

Granger just smiled. He didn't say anything. Just like Regulus, he seemed anxious and jumpy. Of course, his secret wasn't safe anymore. No matter how much he avoided fighting them, he still didn't trust a slytherin. He was right to do so too, if Regulus wasn't going to gain anything out of this, he would have told in a heartbeat.

He hid behind the crowd and waited for everyone to leave. After a few competitive and Regulus had to admit, exciting games, Lupin declared it was enough and they better go in if they didn't want to be sick tomorrow. The crowd scattered disappointedly and Regulus hid behind a bleacher to stay behind. He saw Sirius, Lupin and that Pettigrew kid go out of the field, caught up in a deep conversation about the Quidditch league. He would never understand how Sirius preferred that useless, pathetic boy to his own brother. He saw Potter and that red haired girl go after them, both keeping their distance but occasionally catching each other's eye in a shy, flirty way. Finally…wait.

Where was Granger?

"Looking for someone?"

Regulus jumped up and turned to see two green eyes staring at him. There was something different about him. He seemed much surer and much more confident right now, than the shy boy he was, when around the Marauders.

"Yes." He answered confidently. "I want to talk to you."

Granger nodded his head.

"Come on then; I know somewhere we could talk privately."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Regulus followed the boy quietly as he approached the Whomping Willow. He used his wand to pull a root and the tree became motionless at once. Regulus tried to look nonchalant, as if he wasn't surprised how that tree stopped just like that.

Then, without a word, Granger walked inside the tree. Regulus hesitated. Should he really go inside somewhere he didn't know, with someone he didn't trust?

"Are you coming?" Granger turned around and asked when he saw that he wasn't following. Regulus swallowed all his worries and nodded. He went in.

It was the Shrieking Shack. He shouldn't be surprised of course; it wasn't unusual for Granger to know all this if he was from the future. Still, it was hard to accept such an unbelievable thing.

"So, you know." Granger said bluntly.

"Yes." Regulus replied. "I do." What now? How was he going to say everything? Would Granger even trust him?

"I should obliviate you," Granger said, and Regulus stiffened. "But I won't. At leasti not until I hear what you have to say."

"It's a bit long."

"Well, then don't waste time."

Regulus nodded. The only way he could get across what he wanted to say, thoroughly, was being as honest as he could.

"I'm a Death Eater." He said after taking a deep breath. He didn't expect the answer that came:

"I know."

HPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHPHP

Harry blinked at Regulus. How could this be? It wasn't right. It wasn't the right timeline; it wasn't the right story.

The diadem should have been in Hogwarts already. Harry had been looking for it. So, this was the reason he couldn't find it. He'd understood that Regulus was in a training but he didn't know that it was for a horcrux for Merlin's sake! He didn't understand anything; this wasn't how things were supposed to work. But then again, he wasn't supposed to be here either.

Maybe things started to change the moment he set foot to this world, this time. After all, Dumbledore always talked about how a curious thing time was.

"So," he managed to talk after a while, "what do you want from me?"

"I need your help." Regulus spoke, "I want to destroy it."

A small smile curved on Harry's lips. Regulus didn't need to wait for Kreacher to get hurt to turn his back on Voldemort. Turns out, he had always been more like his brother than his parents. For some reason, a crazy instinct told him to trust Regulus. That he was telling the truth and this was no trap.

It was the same instinct he felt, the same voice he heard, standing right here, when Sirius had told him that he didn't murder his parents.

It would be madness not to trust it. Harry's smile widened.

"I can help you with that."

It's been sooo long. Sorry about that. I've been busy with school but the past week was holiday so I got to write this. I was actually going to write two chapters but this longer than I expected as the story is beginning to shape now.

Now, about your reviews:

Haley Renee- Thank you so much for my longest review yet! It was soo lovely to read :D

texaskid- Yeah, I've noticed that too but it was around chapter 4 or so I let it slide. Hope it doesn't bother people too much :)

sinclair12-Oh gosh, I knew there was something I was forgetting! I know, I know, how can I possibly forget Harry's scar for Merlin's sake?! I honestly don't know. Let's just assume he hides it ;)

Guest- I know there aren't a lot of moments between James and Harry and that's because I was trying to really decide where to go and there was a few things I wanted to clear and built. But now that Regulus and Harry are cooperating, things are going to calm down for a while and there more D.A meetings and more Harry-Marauders bonding so keep reading! :D

And everyone else; thanks SO MUCH for reading and reviewing :D :D

Lots of Love;

Necesisstas